Orally disintegrating or dissolving edible materials are currently used in a large variety of applications as a matrix for conveniently holding and using nutrients, flavors and medicinal compounds such as breath fresheners. The slow-dissolving edible strips currently in use are typically produced from pullulan, sodium alginate, starches, carrageenans or combinations of these ingredients. All of these are suitable film forming materials which dissolve adequately, but they tend to leave an undesirable gummy residue in the mouth that remains for a greater or lesser period of time after the film structure has broken down and the matrix has released its contents.
I have found that gelatin, widely used in a number of candy applications, is unusually suitable as the major film component of edible film materials, for use as edible dissolving strips.
Gelatin, in particular high bloom gelatin, is an excellent film former and can readily be cast into film form. Unique among the hydrocolloids, gelatin melts at approximately 37° C., with the result that an edible strip composed primarily of gelatin dissolves and melts in the mouth without leaving any of the unpleasant residue associated with polysaccharide films. A consequence of the unique melting property of gelatin is that films can be made thicker than films composed of other materials used for this purpose. Typical polysaccharide films in edible dissolving strips are less than 35 microns in thickness, whereas gelatin-based films can be used for this purpose with thicknesses as great as 85 microns. The thicker films do tend to dissolve more slowly, but still melt into their gelatin content, resulting in a pleasant sensation in the mouth.